Through the Urban & Community Forestry Program, the SD Department of Agriculture Resource Conservation and Forestry Division has provided financial assistance to our communities each year since 1991. A portion of the division's annual allocation of Urban and Community Forestry Assistance funds from the US Forest Service is awarded to the communities in the form of Challenge grants.

These grants are used to fund community forestry projects that solve a specific community forestry problem or demonstrate the importance of trees in our community. The criteria for the challenge grants are outlined below in highest to lowest priority:

1. Professional Services - ($5,000)2. Tree Inventory/Assessment - ($5,000)3. Existing Tree Care & Maintenance - ($1,000) An applicant may receive a maximum of $1,000 per year for existing tree care and maintenance.4. Education/Training - ($5,000)5. New Tree Planting - ($1,000) An applicant may receive a maximum of $1,000 per year for new trees6.Other activities - ($5,000)

Grants have a maximum limit of $5,000. The required match may be met through volunteer labor, donated and/or purchased supplies, or actual cash expenditures.